That of Customer Centricity is as timely and essential a concept as ever for a company to achieve success. In the words of Sam Walton, after all, today more than ever before
“there is only one supreme boss: the customer. The customer can fire everyone in the company, from the president on down, simply by spending their money elsewhere.”
In this guide you are about to find out how you can implement such a model to improve your startup’s customer satisfaction and retention.
What is Customer Centricity and why is it important
To understand how to apply the model to your startup, you must first know what Customer Centricity is.
The meaning of Customer Centricity is easily guessed from these two words: customer centricity. It is, therefore, a strategy that puts the customer, with his needs and desires, at the center of companies’ internal and external processes, and is quite different from the approach taken by companies until not so many years ago (Product Centricity), in which the product with its specific characteristics was instead at the center.
Thus, in the past, companies tended to focus on the product and how to improve it to increase sales and/or reduce costs so as to maximize their profits; now, however, with Customer Centricity, companies aim to become the best solution for their customers by offering them highly personalized service and better shopping experiences.
The topic of Customer Centricity is also important for startups. Several such companies, after all, build their business models using the Lean Model Canvas, which puts the end customer at the very center of the organization.
Difference between Customer Centricity and Customer Service
A common mistake made by entrepreneurs and startuppers is to confuse Customer Centricity with Customer Service. While similar, in fact, these are two distinct concepts.
Customer Centricity is precisely about a business approach in which we focus on the needs and desires of the consumer, who in this way serves as a point of connection between the various business functions, no longer “separate” but communicating with each other.
Customer Service, that is, the service and care of customer relations before, during, and after the purchase or use of products or services, on the other hand, is “only” one aspect (albeit a fundamental one) in which this central role entrusted to the customer is declined.
Benefits of Customer Centricity for Businesses
Now that you are clear about what Customer Centricity is, it is critical that you understand even better why it is important. How? By knowing the benefits it can bring to your startup and the goals it enables you to achieve.
Customer loyalty and impact on turnover
The first and foremost benefit provided by Customer Centricity is increased profit.
When drafting the business plan, many entrepreneurs focus on the inner workings of the company, completely ignoring the needs and desires of consumers. Customer Centricity solves the problem at its root, making it easier in this way to achieve the goals set.
A customer-centric approach, through listening to the customers’ point of view, makes it possible to recognize opportunities for growth earlier and more easily. Knowing what customers like (and what they don’t) allows products to be tailored to their needs and desires. Customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty, increasing Customer Retention Rate and Customer Lifetime Value. And remember: retaining customers is very important because keeping existing customers costs less than having to acquire new ones.
Creating personalized customer experiences
We just mentioned that knowing precisely the needs and wants of customers allows you to tailor products to them. Not only that: customer centricity also allows you to create personalized experiences tailored to the customer, even at the level of communication.
All this gives your startup the ability to respond promptly to changes in customers’ needs, thus keeping them loyal.
How to apply the Customer Centricity Model to your business
Now you know what you can do with Customer Centricity, but you are left to figure out how to apply this model to your startup.
Understanding customer needs through research and data analysis
Too often, companies build up an idea of their customers that later, when tested, does not turn out to correspond to reality. To remedy this problem, it is essential to really know what customers need, but also what they want, how they buy products or use services, and the preferences associated with conversations between them and the company. Collecting and analyzing consumer data is what allows you to get a complete overview of all these aspects.
What tools to adopt to support customer centricity
A valuable tool for Customer Centricity is that of Buyer Personas: these generalized, imaginary representations of your ideal customers allow you to improve the creation and presentation of your products or services, taking into account the specific needs and precise desires of those who will (hopefully) use them.
It will not surprise you to learn, then, that the more closely you work with customers, the more valuable information about them you will be able to identify and collect. To keep track of their buying behavior quickly and easily, you can collect and analyze data with customer relationship management (CRM software).
Software of this type allows you, for example, to collect and organize data on customers and prospects, automate and customize email marketing campaigns, build offers tailored to specific customer needs; effectively manage sales opportunities and processes, and analyze sales.
Customer Centricity as a Competitive Advantage for Startups
As we pointed out at the beginning of this guide, centering the company’s internal and external processes on the customer requires a paradigm shift from the past, but it is a change that can really make a difference and, most importantly, is within everyone’s reach. This means that this talk, therefore, also applies to startups.
Even today, several (too many) startups are born with a product-centric orientation, unaware that, instead, a customer-centric approach reduces the costs associated with product development and enables them to bring the product to market faster.
Adopting Customer Centricity, therefore, can give you the opportunity to gain a huge competitive advantage over your competitors.
Customer Centricity Case Study
Some examples and case studies of Customer Centricity may give you a better understanding of what we are talking about.
Lessons from the tech and startup sector.
Technology has revolutionized commerce in recent years, shifting (much of) shopping from the offline world to the Web. E-commerce sites teach well how to adopt a customer-centric approach, since they generally offer surveys and questionnaires, invite customers to leave reviews, and suggest products and services to customers based on their preferences. Not only that, more advanced platforms allow customers to virtually try out their future purchases.
More generally, startups have also realized that consumers today want to contribute themselves to the development of products and services and, in fact, to the very strategic direction of companies. Despite having smaller budgets to devote to marketing, today’s startups and small companies are better able to connect with consumers and, as a result, provide them with what they really want and need.
Examples of Customer Centricity in Established Companies.
Speaking of customer centricity two of the most cited Case Studies are those of Amazon and Ikea.
The e-commerce giant provides various listening tools regarding users’ needs and desires, such as reviews and questionnaires. The algorithm developed by Amazon, moreover, allows the company to provide highly personalized purchase suggestions in line with the individual user’s tastes. The same goes for the Prime Video streaming platform, which suggests to viewers the shows that are most likely to meet their preferences.
Ikea, on the other hand, is distinguished by the immersive, multisensory experience customers can have within its stores. Ikea, however, also leverages the principles of Customer Centricity online with its app that allows users to place 3-D models of furniture within a room with a few simple clicks. In this way, the potential customer can get an idea of the furniture even before making a purchase.
How to measure the effectiveness of customer centricity
Adopting a customer centric approach is useless if the effectiveness of the chosen strategy is not measured. Even in the case of customer centricity, therefore, it is essential to establish some key metrics (from the abandonment rate to the aforementioned Customer Lifetime Value) and monitor them regularly.
Your goal should be to identify the customers most likely to make new purchases, understand the frequency with which they will make purchases, and know the cost these particular customers are willing to incur.
Customer Centricity and Innovation: the future of business is customer-centric
We cannot but conclude this guide dedicated to Customer Centricity with a look into the future.
Markets are now increasingly subject to rapid and sudden (and unpredictable) changes and are becoming increasingly competitive. As a result, the cost of customer acquisition is now continuously rising.
Customer Centricity, as already widely emphasized, allows you to capture input from the market earlier and better, so you can anticipate customers’ needs and desires. Not only that, it allows you to build lasting as well as highly personalized relationships with them. This last aspect fits perfectly with the new expectations of customers, who now do not just buy a product or service, but want to enjoy a totally fulfilling shopping experience.
Do you want to read all the articles related to the stage your startup is in?
